"I'm just kind of disconnected" - Jeff Kaplan avoids Overwatch at all costs

Former Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan explained how he protects his soul by completely avoiding online discussions and spin-offs about Blizzard's hero shooter.

If you're a die-hard Overwatch player, you're probably familiar with the name Jeff Kaplan. He was basically the face of the game for years, endearing himself to fans with his regular developer updates and memorable interactions with its fans.

After leaving Blizzard in 2021, Kaplan founded his own game studio and is currently working on an open-world, survival-action shooter called California Legend. He's firmly behind Overwatch - to the point where he avoids interacting with it at all costs online.

Watch the pictures of the new hero "Kingdom of Talon".

"With Overwatch, I had an almost clinical detachment, knowing how WoW went," Kaplan said in a recent interview with GameSpot. I literally haven't played this game since April 2021.

“I don't read subs because of my mood. After saying goodbye to competitive Overwatch and the Overwatch Subreddit, I won't be going back and reading. I don't watch YouTube [movies]. I don't search my name in Overwatch. I don't search Overwatch. I'm just interrupting I'm actually telling all the algorithms that, “Yeah, I'm not really into Overwatch anymore. "I know you think I'm the Overwatch guy, but that's not for me anymore."

He told the outlet that it was surprisingly more painful for him to leave the World of Warcraft team working on Overwatch than to put the heroic shooter on the back burner, calling it a "training moment" for taking the next step in his career.

"WoW was who I was at that point," he explained. "I was working on WoW every minute, every waking minute. If I wasn't working on WoW, I was playing WoW. And every time I played WoW, I had this notebook by my desk that I'd fill out so I'd walk in the next morning and say, 'These are all the things we need to change.' I became

After learning the hard way that the games he was working on were not his own, but instead an IP owned by Blizzard, it was easier for him to move on.

"Overwatch happened," he said. I was a part of it. Now there's a group, and Overwatch is now about them. Players and developers alike, Overwatch is now theirs. They build it, they own it, they play it. I'm into this new thing, and that's where I'm at in my life."

Since leaving Blizzard nearly half a decade ago, Kaplan hasn't been shy about sharing his thoughts on the current gaming industry. Recently, he had some harsh words for players who complained about games they'll never play.

"If a game comes out, and you don't want to play it, and you've never played it? Shut up. Nobody cares," he said.

And in March, he revealed why he actually left Blizzard behind, describing one particular meeting he called "the biggest moment of my career."

Virginia (she) is the news editor for IGN. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, he has a background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.